Which Osprey?

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KickingupDust

KickingupDust

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I am very new to wildlife photography. I caught these shots of Ospreys feeding the other week.

I would welcome critique on firstly whether they are any good as wildlife shots, then would also appreciate if you could indicate which one you think is the strongest.

Many thanks in advance,

John

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You must live in paradise to have such action opportunities, Well done. You should look at your whites. HSL can help. You can also try brightness and contrast with a mask to soften the brights. Many of the over-bright areas can be fixed in Photoshop but it is a process and you must just go back and try again and again. You-tube has some excellent tuts on these issues.
 
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Number 1 is my choice. A true wall hanger with just a tweak. I downloaded that one and none of the whites are blown out completely. The others do have issues though. At least nothing truly noticeable to me. I did drop the gamma to I think it was .85 making the whole image just a touch darker and on my monitor put a little snap in it. Just my opinion.
Regards and envious!
 
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Promapper said:
Number 1 is my choice. A true wall hanger with just a tweak. I downloaded that one and none of the whites are blown out completely. The others do have issues though. At least nothing truly noticeable to me. I did drop the gamma to I think it was .85 making the whole image just a touch darker and on my monitor put a little snap in it. Just my opinion.
Regards and envious!
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Can I ask you to clarify? You say the others have issues, but then say nothing noticeable to you. I'm a bit confused.

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.
 
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You certainly don't look like a beginner! Magnificent series of pictures. Your post processing needs work but that will come with practice but to have such lovely images to work on will be a pleasure:love: Good eye detail and I think the top one is my favorite although not easy to choose, I prefer landscape orientation for birds, leave more space in the crop and not in the centre of the frame. Itching to see what Steve would do with the edit?
 
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Vixpix said:
You certainly don't look like a beginner! Magnificent series of pictures. Your post processing needs work but that will come with practice but to have such lovely images to work on will be a pleasure:love: Good eye detail and I think the top one is my favorite although not easy to choose, I prefer landscape orientation for birds, leave more space in the crop and not in the centre of the frame. Itching to see what Steve would do with the edit?
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Thank you very much.

What am I doing wrong in post?
 
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Sorry, They are all great shots and I love the first but 3 4 and 5 seem to have a magenta or magenta bluish cast on my monitor that I don't see in 1 or 2. Try decreasing blue and magenta both a little they that should be a closer match to 1 and 2. Again they are all great action shots! Wish I was there.
 
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KickingupDust said:
I would welcome critique on firstly whether they are any good as wildlife shots, then would also appreciate if you could indicate which one you think is the strongest.
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John,
Yes, these are all very good as wildlife shots. Great action, great subject, clean backgrounds, solid compositions, sharp eyes. You ticked the major boxes with all of them.

I like the first one with the wing sweep running diagonally through the frame with those great curled wing tips and the fish is also really clear. It tells a great story and is very dramatic.

I agree with some of the other comments that some of your highlights are pretty bright and there's a bit of a color cast in some of the images tending towards magenta. Both of those can resolved in processing but shooting in a bit softer light (e.g. just after sunrise, just before sunset) can help a lot as there's no beating great light.
 
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To me, the final shot is clearly the best. The eye contact and action of the water splashing everywhere. White feathers on birds are ALWAYS a challenge because they are so reflective . With these shots, just turning down the highlights a bit might do the trick. I also like to use adjustment brushes to work on small areas where the whites are too white without changing the entire picture. These are some really great pictures. Congratulations.
 
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John, You wrote "... whether they are any good as wildlife shots ". Do you really not know? You have a series of action shots that people, myself included, dream about. They are all good and from a composition standpoint, the first stands out. The last two are also standouts because the bird is flying directly toward the camera - it's hard to make a bad shot in that situation. Over-all, a wonderful series to look at.
 
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While no. 1 has great composition in the wing placement and fish, the eye of the bird is not quite sharp, which unfortunately detracts a bit. The last two images are great for sharpness and action, but highlights and colour balance work in processing will help. What a great experience to capture these shots!
 
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Couple things, number your photos if you adding more than two... I agree the focus is off just a tick on number one... # 4 would have been the shot for me but the blue cast takes away from a super photograph. I would go back and rework that photo as it could be wonderful. Also add a little more space when cropping.
 
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Howard5252 said:
John, You wrote "... whether they are any good as wildlife shots ". Do you really not know? You have a series of action shots that people, myself included, dream about. They are all good and from a composition standpoint, the first stands out. The last two are also standouts because the bird is flying directly toward the camera - it's hard to make a bad shot in that situation. Over-all, a wonderful series to look at.
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Howard, Thank you. I am new to wildlife so have no idea which is the best sort of shot. As others have pointed out, there are faults in all of them that i need to take on board & learn from.
 
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gordon_g said:
Couple things, number your photos if you adding more than two... I agree the focus is off just a tick on number one... # 4 would have been the shot for me but the blue cast takes away from a super photograph. I would go back and rework that photo as it could be wonderful. Also add a little more space when cropping.
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Gordon. Thank you. I thought I had numbered them. Apologies if I am wrong. What is the best method to correct the blue cast?

Thanks,

John
 
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They are all great! Just minor adjustments are needed. Tweak the color balance and lighting. I like the first shot the best. Nice size rainbow trout!
Where were these shots taken?
 
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Lovely photographs, my favourite is the one with the reflection. The reason being that I cannot bear to see a photo of a bird with a ring on its leg. All I can is the damned ring in the other photos. Number two photo could have the ring removed quite easily with the clone tool. Despite that they are all shots to be proud of.
 
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Yes they are all very good BIF shots. Love #1 as is spans the entire frame and especially the curved wing tips. Need to do some post processing for shots 3.4.& 5 to get rid of the blue/magenta tint.
 
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My favourite one is the one flying in talons pushed forward all focus in and ready to strike the intensity and drama is fabulous but I'm not sure if the reflection helps it.
We have ospreys here in England in our smallest county Rutland , there is a trout farm in the area. They got fed up of the birds raiding their fish ponds so what they did was net
all the ponds with the exception of one and after talking to Wildlife authorities built a photography hide for I think its for six photographers @ £75 a time and they run two sessions
morning and afternoon so 12 x£75 per day pays for the fish and some. I've been, Bird came in at about 05:00 10,000 iso was required I have what I would call a record shot okish . Yep Kicking up Dust Love the drama of that shot if you go again for me that is the shot I would want your doomed fish!
 
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WOW! Marvelous series, and numbers 1 and 4 are my favorites. Not sure what the "post processing" suggestions are about, but imnho, they are fine just as presented. I am an en camera sort of person.
 
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